How 'genetics' ads from American Eagle and Dunkin' triggered a cultural firestorm

Fox News

4 days ago

This week, social media fell into a frenzy over actress Sydney Sweeney and popular chain Dunkin'. The reason for the furor? A pair of advertisements featuring "genetics" led some to speculate about ties to eugenics and "whiteness," while others jumped to defend the actors, clothing and coffee and donut brands.
Fox News Digital breaks down how it happened, what people are saying and whether experts feel if this kind of advertising signals a broader trend to come.
Sweeney paired up with clothing brand American Eagle for its fall clothing campaign, titled "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," which sparked a mix of reactions on social media.
In a promo video posted to the brand's Instagram, the 27-year-old walked toward an American Eagle billboard featuring her and the tagline "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes." Sweeney crossed out "Genes" and replaced it with "Jeans" before walking away.
Liberal media outlets and progressive commentators fretted over what they deemed coded language from American Eagle about White supremacy and eugenics.
On ABC's "GMA First Look" Tuesday, the show featured a clip of Kean University professor Robin Landa linking Sweeney's "good jeans" to the eugenics movement.
Liberal outlets like Salon piled in on the backlash, with the outlet's weekend editor CK Smith also linking the tagline of Sweeney's ad to "eugenics movements."
"The advertisement, the choice of Sweeney as the sole face in it and the internet's reaction reflect an unbridled cultural shift toward Whiteness, conservatism and capitalist exploitation. Sweeney is both a symptom and a participant," MSNBC producer Hanna Holland wrote in an MSNBC.com column on Monday.
In response, conservatives gleefully mocked their concerns.
WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter appeared to be in Sweeney's corner, posting, "Attention (Sydney Sweeney), YOU GO GIRL," on X on Wednesday.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, posted, "Wow. Now the crazy Left has come out against beautiful women. I'm sure that will poll well."
Said OutKick host Clay Travis on his show, "We're repudiating this idea that fat people and woke people advertising works."
A Trump White House official also waded into the controversy, calling left-wing backlash and claims of a "shift toward Whiteness" more "cancel culture run amok."
Not that it was only liberals who took issue with the ad. The satire site Babylon Bee poked fun at conservatives who reveled in Sweeney's ad, saying they were cheering "the death of wokeness as America finally returned to its Christian roots of objectifying women's bodies to sell stuff."
In addition to American Eagle, Dunkin' released a short spot for its new summer Refresher drinks on Tuesday featuring "The Summer I Turned Pretty" star, Gavin Casalegno. During the 35-second ad, the actor credited his summer tan to his "genetics."
In the ad, Casalegno sat near a swimming pool holding his Dunkin' Golden Hour Refresher beverage while he referenced his pop culture status as the "king of summer" along with his tan, saying, "Look, I didn't ask to be the king of summer. It just kind of happened," he said. "This tan? Genetics. I just got my color analysis back. Guess what? Golden Summer. Literally."
TikTok users hammered the spot on the platform, taking issue with Casalegno mentioning his genetics, comparing the advertisement to American Eagle. Posts included users decrying Dunkin', along with comments speculating the interest in appearance, "What's up with ads and the word genetics rn," one commenter shared, receiving 40,000 likes.
Top Culture/Trending podcast host of The Determined Society, Shawn French, shared his take on what these viral moments mean culturally, and what he believes this signals for the future of advertisements, with Fox News Digital.
"This ad didn't go viral because of its fashion or branding. It became a lightning rod because it hit on deeper cultural anxieties," French told Fox News Digital. "In 2025, we live in a low-trust society where every piece of content is scrutinized for hidden meaning, bias or agenda. The Dunkin' and American Eagle ad wasn't just seen as a marketing play, it was interpreted as a statement, and depending on who you ask, it was either performative pandering or strategic trolling."
"That kind of symbolic over-analysis is now the norm. We've trained audiences to decode everything, and brands are feeling the pressure from both the left and the right," French explained.
French added that the backlash from conservatives, including satire, shows that even "the culture war crowd" is becoming exhausted by what they feel to be inauthentic branding, and that progressives also criticize without any real substance.
"This isn't about jeans or coffee. It's about what side of the cultural fence people think you're on and if you're trying too hard to sell 'belonging' instead of building it," French said.
When it comes to the future of advertising, French said that this moment reveals consumers have lost trust in storytelling by corporations, and that brands are being picked apart for "allegiance."
"That kind of symbolic paranoia is a direct reflection of where we are as a culture: fractured, hyper-interpretive and desperate to know what and who we're really supporting," French said.
While some have dubbed the American Eagle and Dunkin' campaigns "tone-deaf" due to the alleged racial undertones, others have praised the actress for killing "woke" advertising.
Advertisements of the past have a history of marketing based on looks and attractiveness — including fellow clothing producer Abercrombie & Fitch, which some believe promotes exclusivity.
CEO Mike Jeffries once said about his brand, "We go after the cool kids… a lot of people don't belong."
Other well-known advertisements featuring marketing tactics tied directly to appearance include makeup company Maybelline Cosmetics' tagline, "Maybe she's born with it," which some argue is a reference to genetic inheritance.
Despite the controversy, The Times reports that American Eagle has garnered more than $65 million in free advertising since the Sweeney advertisement launched on July 23 — with over four billion impressions. Comparatively, the clothing brand was operating at a $68 million loss in May of 2025. And $200 million was added to American Eagle's market capitalization by Monday.
Public Relations and branding expert Eric Schiffer told Business Insider that, in reference to Sweeney, "She's going to be even bigger because of this."
At the time of this article, no official numbers had been released for Dunkin' following the advertisement launch on July 29.
When it comes to the future of business for brands, French noted that brands are judged by perceptions of their audiences by what the meaning of their advertisement is, not just what's being said.
"Brands need to understand this isn't business as usual anymore. Every campaign is a Rorschach test, and people are no longer buying just for the product they're buying (or boycotting) what it represents," French said.
Representatives for Dunkin', American Eagle, Sydney Sweeney and Gavin Casalegno have not responded to requests for comment.